2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits 12 in Hashim Ali murder case
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has acquitted 12 men of all charges linked to the killing of a man identified as Hashim Ali during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala of the Karkardooma Courts cleared all allegations against Lokesh Kumar Solanki, Pankaj Sharma, Ankit Chaudhary, Prince, Jatin Sharma, Himanshu Thakur, Vivek Panchal, Rishabh Chaudhary, Sumit Chaudhary, Tinku Arora, Sandeep and Sahil.
'I find that in the name of circumstantial evidence, there are some fragments and pieces of evidence, which fall much short to point out towards any of the accused persons as member of the culprit mob,' the judge said in the order.
According to witness accounts, the accused were seen carrying stones, sticks, swords, iron rods, and shouting slogans such as 'Jai Sri Ram' and 'Har Har Mahadev'. It was further claimed that these men were leading the mob and instructing others by calling out names.
As per the FIR, they were allegedly involved in the murder of nine Muslim men after checking their identities. Public witnesses had reportedly seen the killing of Hashim Ali. The prosecution alleged that the group conspired to 'teach Muslims a lesson' for attacks on Hindus.
They were said to have armed themselves with sticks, swords, firearms and more, and killed several, including Hashim Ali and his brother Aamir Khan. But the court found the evidence lacking in terms of identifying any of the accused as part of the mob that stopped the two brothers.
'In fact, except for PW1, no other witness claimed having seen any incident, which could be connected with incident with Hashim and Amir,' the court noted.
The judge also dismissed the prosecution's claim that WhatsApp messages linked Lokesh and others to the riots. 'However, I find that this plea is just a general presumption without support of substantive evidence. It shall be matter of analysis of other piece of circumstantial evidence, to see if the chain of all circumstances has been connected, to show involvement of Lokesh and others in the incident leading to death of Hashim,' the judge further said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
41 minutes ago
- Time of India
Hyderabad woman duped of Rs 22 lakh: fraudsters pose as cops; use fake court notices
Representative Image HYDERABAD: A 65-year-old woman from Kapra lost 22 lakh to fraudsters posing as Delhi police officers. Threatening to arrest her on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, the fraudsters coerced the victim into transferring the money with a false promise to return it after 'RBI verification'. Based on the victim's complaint, Rachakonda police registered a case on Friday. The victim, a retired private-sector employee, told police she received a call on June 16 from a man who introduced himself as inspector Gopesh Kumar. Claiming her Aadhaar was linked to a money laundering case, he showed her fake Supreme Court and RBI notices through WhatsApp video calls and threatened immediate arrest unless she complied with his legal instructions. The caller ordered her to wear white clothes and remain on video for a virtual appearance before the judge. She was forced to disclose bank balances for an asset assessment. She transferred 2 lakh on June 17 and 20 lakh on June 19 after being assured the money would be returned after investigation. When the fraudsters demanded additional payments, the victim consulted relatives and realised the documents were fraudulent. Police are analysing call data records and bank transaction details to trace the accused.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
In new twist to Kerala ‘moral policing' case, woman's family supports SDPI suspects
The suicide of a woman in Kerala's Kannur after a mob allegedly humiliated her for speaking to her male friend in public has now taken a new turn, with the woman's family supporting the suspects in the case. Raseena, a 40-year-old mother of three children, was found dead at her house in Kannur Tuesday — two days after some members of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) allegedly conducted a 'mob trial' after they found her speaking to a male friend in public. The SDPI is the political wing of banned Muslim outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). Based the victim's suicide note, police had arrested three SDPI workers, C Mubasheer, 28, K A Faisal, 34 and V K Rafnas, 24. The suspects are all natives of Parambayi and the nearby areas at Vengad – a stronghold of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kannur. Rafnas is a distant relative of Raseena's. On Saturday, police registered yet another case against the arrested SDPI workers and two others after the woman's male friend, Raheesh Perikkandi, approached them accusing the gang of having abducted and assaulted him, even threatening to leak photos from his phone. Meanwhile, as police continue to investigate the allegations, Raseena's father A Muhammed — a CPI(M) member – approached the police accusing Raheesh of pushing his daughter to the extremes by 'pocketing her gold ornaments and cash'. He also claimed that the family was unaware of their friendship. 'One of the arrested persons is a close relative of my wife Fathima. They had intervened with good intentions. Her gold ornaments worth 40 sovereigns are missing. We have handed over her mobile phone to the police to find the truth,' he said, adding that Rasheesh had 'taken advantage of the discord in her family and tried to blackmail her' by leaking private photos. On its part, the police said it was looking into both complaints. 'The suicide note recovered from the woman did not contain any reference to her friend, but had stated that she was forced to end life due to the humiliation caused by the arrested persons,' Thalassery police sub-divisional officer P B Kiran said. He further said: 'The case, which was initially registered for unnatural death, has been altered to abetment of suicide. We are examining the complaint from the woman's family and also looking into whether they are under pressure to support the arrested people. The case registered on the complaint of the male friend against the arrested also will be probed as part of the suicide case.' Meanwhile, the issue has taken a political turn, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh claiming that moral policing 'was part of their [SDPI's] agenda to establish Islamic regime'. 'The SDPI wants to impose Talibanism, and society should speak up against this. The incident has shown the ugly face of the organisation, which issues fatwa against women. The woman ended life following a mob trial, and those who tried her have a Taliban mentality. They are still insulting the woman and her family,' he said Saturday. But the SDPI maintains the innocence of the suspects, who allegedly took Raheesh to the outfit's local office for questioning. 'When they saw the woman and the youth, they had summoned the relatives of the woman. The SDPI gave its office for discussions. The arrested youth were familiar with her issues and hence they intervened,' SDPI Kannur district president Basheer Kannadiparamba said.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Sex harassment FIR lodged against sports head, HC told
Mumbai: The state on Friday informed Bombay high court that Kherwadi police station, Bandra East, registered an FIR against the president of a sports body on a complaint of sexual harassment by a woman athlete. The FIR followed Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale's direction on Wednesday to the police-in-charge to record her statement and "take appropriate action in accordance with the law, including registration of FIR, against Mr... and others found involved, if a cognisable offence is made out against them". The state's advocate, Vishal Thadani, informed that an FIR was registered on Thursday. The HC was hearing a petition by Mixed Martial Arts India to direct the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to grant it recognition. Since the IOA granted recognition to the Mixed Martial Arts Sports Federation of India, the Asian Mixed Martial Arts Association recognised only it. In these circumstances, the petitioner's athletes are unable to participate in the first Asian Youth Championship in Bahrain between June 25 and 28. The rival federation submitted documents, including screenshots of Instagram texts between the petitioner's president and an athlete. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo "A plain reading of the messages demonstrates sexual overtures being made by Mr... to the said woman athlete," the judges noted. They noticed a woman crying in court. Federation advocate Adil Parsurampuria said she was "the athlete concerned". The judges said "she had a story to tell. The woman athlete informed us she was being sexually harassed and suffered great anguish at the hands of Mr... She was compelled to reply to his Instagram and WhatsApp messages, and if she refused, she was threatened she would not be permitted to participate in any sport..." The woman complained to various authorities with proof of harassment, "but her every attempt was thwarted, and she was left to run from pillar to post for redressal of her grievance". The judges were "shocked" to hear her statements, adding it is "extremely unfortunate" that neither the petitioner, federation or IOA stood by the woman nor have taken steps "to provide succour to her". The petitioner's advocate, Abhishek Upadhyay, said the president shall "step down from his position". "We accept the said statement as an undertaking given to this court," the judges said. To the judge's query, advocates Sanjeev Sawant and Heramb Kadam informed that IOA has a POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) committee in place, and if a complaint is received, it would take action. Parsurampuria said in national interest, the federation shall select 5 athletes of the petitioner to participate in the championship. On Friday, judges refused to expunge observations against the president.
